Vol. 458 No. 4
15 Miss Harney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the measures, if any, which have been introduced to protect the Irish potato industry from the risk of brown rot disease discovered in the Netherlands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17046/95]
Importers of seed potatoes and the farmers' organisation have been alerted to the outbreak in the Netherlands and detailed information on the disease has been provided. The matter is being actively pursued at the EU Standing Committee on Plant Health. The Commission has drawn up proposals for a decision on common measures to be applied in all member states to deal with the outbreak in the Netherlands and to safeguard against its spread which I would hope will be adopted as a matter of urgency it is not, I will be reviewing the position immediately. In the meantime, the trade has been requested not to place any orders for Dutch seed potatoes.
